Dear Neighbor,

As we head into the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this July 4th, it can feel like a tough time to be a patriot. The President of the United States is busy turning what should be a unifying celebration of American values into a narcissistic spectacle of corruption, a turn of events that would have been completely unimaginable ten years ago, but surprises no one today.

But in spite of the daily outrages of this administration, and the constant hate and bile spewed by the extremist movement of which Donald Trump is the embodiment, I remain convinced that periods of backlash and backsliding like the one we are currently living through are actually aberrations, not returns to form.

I still believe that American history is a progressive march toward more broadly shared liberty and prosperity and solidarity, one that has been wrought by the relentless work and sacrifice of Americans of every race, color, and creed. Those Americans were and are the deepest of patriots - not the kind who lazily say "my country right or wrong," but the ones who love this country and all its people enough to fight against those who would pervert our values and deflect us from moving ever closer to our founding promise. Real patriots are not afraid to admit when this country has made mistakes, when we've contributed to injustice at home or abroad, and to act to make it right.

Because at its core, this country is its people. You cannot claim to love America when you hate actual Americans, in all their vivid variety. Actual Americans are Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Indigenous; they are native-born and immigrants; they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and atheists; they are gay, straight, trans, nonbinary, queer, and questioning; they are parents and non-parents, young, old, and middle-aged, college students and high-school drop-outs, rich, poor, and in-between. A true patriot, a lover of actual Americans, is committed to standing up for the needs of all Americans, not just a select few.

That's the America I'll be celebrating this July 4th. The America that cherishes democracy, that does not equate power with cruelty, that does not celebrate willful ignorance. The America I celebrate is not afraid to look facts in the face and confront

reality. It leads the world by example, and is a reliable ally. It takes care of the vulnerable and the unfortunate, and looks forward to a brighter future instead of backward to an imaginary past. We certainly haven't always lived up to those values, but it's also foolish to deny that at our best, we can, we have, and we will do so again.

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I also want to share a quick update about my health. As you probably know, I experienced a stroke in April. Fortunately, I received wonderful care at Lenox Hill Hospital and have been recovering well. Although I have been following doctor's orders and working remotely for the last few months, I have been fully involved in discussions with Senate leadership and my staff, and am proud to have moved several key pieces of legislation this session - click here to read my end of session update.

Thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes my way; I was overwhelmed and moved by the outpouring of support. I look forward to seeing many of you at our events this summer, both in-person and virtual, including at my Mobile Constituent Hours (see below for details).

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Finally, the National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Heat Watch from 12pm Wednesday, 7/1, to 9pm Saturday, 7/4. Heat index values could reach up to 109 degrees. These conditions are dangerous to human health. People without air conditioning, older adults, people with chronic health conditions, and people who work outside are most at risk. 

Tips to stay safe in extreme heat:

• Stay hydrated
• Avoid direct sunlight
• Seek air conditioning or shade
• Avoid strenuous outdoor activity, especially during the hottest hours of the day
• Check in on older family members and neighbors
• Seek immediate medical attention if experiencing any symptoms of heat-related illnesses

If you don't have air conditioning, find a cool place to visit nearby, like a friend’s place, a museum, library, or a NYC cooling center. Click here to find local cooling centers. If you have a New York Public Library card, you can reserve free passes to dozens of (generally well air-conditioned) local cultural centers and museums via the Culture Pass program here.

Below you will find governmental updates from the past month, recent actions by the Trump Administration impacting New Yorkers, and upcoming events and other useful information affecting our district.

As always, if you have any questions or need assistance, please email or call my office at lkrueger@nysenate.gov or 212-490-9535. If you are not already subscribed to my email list, click here to join.

Liz Krueger

State Senator

What's In This Newsletter?

Updates From My Office:

• Op-Ed: N.Y. Needs this Cap on Big Data Centers
• Your Voice Matters: Submeter Regulation Bill Introduced
• Penn Station Electeds Demand Answers on Developer Selection Process
• Statement on Horse-Drawn Carriages in Central Park
• Mobile Constituent Hours at 53rd Street Library
• Webinar on Changes to the Student Loan System
• Free Summer Activities Guide
• New York State Senate Summer Reading Program
• Update on Trump Administration Impacts

Useful Information:

• Impact of H.R.1 on Essential Plan Health Coverage
• Upcoming Changes to Medicaid Coverage
• Need Help With Health Insurance?
• Free Summer Meals
• Financial Aid Updates

Community Updates, Event, and Opportunities:

• DOROT Summer Package Delivery
• Summer Movies in Southpoint Park

Op-Ed: N.Y. Needs this Cap on Big Data Centers

Earlier this month, the NY Daily News ran an op-ed that I authored with Senator Kristen Gonzalez, calling on Governor Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act (S.10642), which includes includes elements of my legislation (S.9144) to implement a moratorium on new data center construction.

This Responsible Data Center Development Act would place a 1-year moratorium on data center development while reasonable safeguards are put in place going forward, including protections for electric, gas, and water ratepayers against rising costs, clean energy generation requirements, benefits for host-communities, and protections against air, water, and noise pollution. This nation-leading bill will protect New Yorkers from the negative impacts of large-scale data centers by pressing the pause button for one year while we implement commonsense policies that will allow us to benefit from potential economic growth while avoiding the damage that data centers are causing in other states.

Your Voice Matters:

Submeter Regulation Bill Introduced

Over the last several months, many of you filled out the electrical submetering survey my team put together. Using data compiled from your survey responses, I have drafted and introduced a bill that will improve protections for submetered customers against high bills and faulty meters.

My new bill, S.10530, ensures that submetered customers are able to get their meters tested in a timely manner if they suspect them to be inaccurate. It does so in part by stipulating that, if a landlord/submeterer does not conduct an investigation of a meter upon request by a customer in a reasonable amount of time, the New York State Public Service Commission rules in favor of the customer and reports that the submeter problem does in fact exist. Thus, it would shift the burden of proof from the customer, who is currently required to prove that the submeter problem exists, to the owner, who would now need to prove that the problem does not exist. It would also implement common-sense accounting measures that would allow for the examination of prior bill records to identify obviously erroneously high bills. 

Additionally, the bill requires changes to standards for submetering tests to improve their quality and accuracy. It would ensure that when a test is conducted, it measures not only the electricity used in the apartment but also the electricity flow in areas outside the dwelling. This type of test is necessary to determine if a meter is incorrectly registering usage from areas outside of an apartment and adding that usage on to a customer’s bill. This is known as a “shared meter condition,” and legally requiring tests that are able to identify such a condition is a significant advancement. Once this improved test is conducted, the customer who requested it would then be legally entitled to receive a written determination, an important requirement that will vastly improve the transparency of the testing process. From our survey, we learned that many constituents have requested tests in the past, yet have subsequently received little to no information about the results. This information gap represents a major problem, and closing it is one of the most important ways that this bill will give submetered customers peace of mind.

This bill is in the early stages of the legislative process, and it still must pass both houses of the Legislature and get signed by the governor to become law. However, I am encouraged by the feedback we have received from both advocates and constituents alike on this bill. It is clearer than ever that there is a massive need for proper oversight of electrical submeters, and introducing this bill is the first step towards achieving that.

Penn Station Electeds Demand Answers

on Developer Selection Process

This month I joined my colleagues Congressman Jerry Nadler, Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Comptroller Mark Levine, Assemblymembers Tony Simone and Micah Lasher, Senator Erik Bottcher, and Councilmember Carl Wilson on a letter to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy demanding answers for the secret, politically driven process that resulted in the appointment of Penn Transformation Partners as the “master developer” for the Penn Station renovation.

The Trump administration has weaponized the Department of Transportation against New Yorkers in a blatant attempt to steal money, land, and power. The Penn Station redevelopment process has broken every precedent and trampled on the rights of New York City residents and the hundreds of thousands of riders who use Penn Station every day. There has been no transparency on the overall cost, who will pay this unknown price, no input from the MTA or key stakeholders, and no public proposal over which land will be used and for what purposes now or later. New Yorkers’ voices have been muted from the discussion happening between billionaires behind closed doors. 

Additionally, the legislation moving through Congress right now—the McDowell and Moulton Amendment—is a blatant attempt to advance the Trump agenda, hurting New Yorkers in the process. The amendment strips away local control and hands broad authority to a Trump-controlled Amtrak and his real estate developer friends. These entities, all who have a significant financial stake in this project, would have the ability to permanently reshape land use around Penn Station while exempting itself from New York’s laws, weakening our tax base and bypassing our communities. Without any discussion or negotiation, Amtrak and big real estate would now be exempt from local zoning laws and New York City real estate taxes. The current process has already shown a disregard for New Yorkers. If the McDowell-Moulton Amendment is adopted, New Yorkers’ homes and hard-earned dollars will be up for grabs by Donald Trump and the billionaires and multinational corporations he handed this project to. This is an infringement on local authoritiy and New Yorkers' pocketbooks.

Statement on Horse-Drawn Carriages

in Central Park

I released the following statement after initial reports that a horse-drawn carriage accident in Central Park left a teenage boy in critical condition. Tragically, the boy passed away not long after this statement was issued:

“I'm sure I'm joined by all New Yorkers in hoping for a swift and complete recovery for the boy who was critically injured today; he and his family are in my thoughts. This incident, coming right on the heels of yet another horse death, once again brings to the fore the issue of the continued use of horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. We all know the right answer: horse-drawn carriages in our streets and in the park are dangerous for both humans and horses. It's time for this practice to come to an end."

Mobile Constituent Hours at 53rd Street Library

Please join my staff and me for our Mobile Constituent Hours at the 53rd Street Library (18 West 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th Aves), next Thursday, July 9th, from noon-3pm.

Feel free to stop by with questions, concerns, or just to chat with me and members of my constituent services team. We will provide plenty of informational literature and helpful resources for all ages. I am very much looking forward to seeing you all face-to-face and hearing what is on the top of your minds.

Webinar on Changes to the Student Loan System

Free Summer Activities Guide

My office has just released a guide to free summer activities around our district for people of all ages. Special thanks to three of our interns, Ria, Julia, and Jack, for their excellent work compiling the information and designing this guide.

This year the guide is available in two formats: as an interactive website, and a more traditional digital booklet.

New York State Senate Summer Reading Program

Summer is the perfect time for children to explore new worlds, spark their imaginations, and strengthen their reading skills. The New York State Senate is proud to support the 2026 summer reading program, themed “Unearth A Story". 

This free program encourages children of all ages to read for fun and discovery all summer long.

How It Works: 

Participating students can submit their completed reading form by August 21, 2026. Students will receive an official summer reading certificate recognizing their dedication and achievement. 

Why Participate?

• Supports families and educators in promoting literacy at home
• Helps prevent the “summer slide” and keeps students engaged
• Encourages a lifelong love of books and learning
• Offers a fun and meaningful way to spend summer break

Update on Trump Administration Impacts

Below is a small sample of actions the Trump Administration has taken this past month that have had concrete, negative impacts on New Yorkers. Click on the links for more details:



• In a rare bout of productivity for what may be the least-productive Congress in history, a bipartisan bill meant to speed up housing production across the country actually made it through the Senate and the House, only to have President Trump cancel the signing ceremony at the last minute because he wants Congressional Republicans to prioritize passage of his legislation to curtail voting rights.

• The Pentagon has pegged the cost of President Trump's deeply unpopular and still-ongoing war against Iran at $80 billion.

• The Supreme Court's decision to allow the Trump Administration to remove Temporary Protected Status could have disastrous consequences for New York State's healthcare system. The change will impact more than 40,000 New Yorkers, many of whom work in healthcare, particularly in the home care sector, which already faces a chronic labor shortage.

• The Postal Service has proposed a rule that would prevent the delivery of mail-in ballots in states that refuse to comply with President Trump's order to turn over sensitive voter information to the federal government.

• In another unprecedented power grab, the White House is directing all federal agencies to impose a political test on all federal grants, with money only going out the door for grantees who “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities.”
  
• The Department of Defense has appointed a convicted January 6th insurrectionist to a counter-terrorism role with access to information on classified military operations.

• Meanwhile, other January 6th insurrectionists are pursuing millions of dollars worth of claims against the federal government through a process under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which may allow the Trump Administration to avoid having to create a special "anti-weaponization fund."

• The Department of Justice is intervening on behalf of a data center owned by Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, creator of Grok, which is being sued by the NAACP for illegally installing and running polluting gas turbines to power it's operations, without first receiving air permits.

• The Department of the Interior has bribed yet another offshore wind company to withdraw from their lease, bringing the total amount of taxpayer money spent on preventing the development vitally needed affordable energy generation to $2.5 billion.

• The Interior Department is also planning to loosen rules around oil and gas drilling on public lands, allowing for more methane pollution, stifling opportunities for public input, and putting taxpayers on the hook for a larger share of cleanup costs down the road.

• The president has appropriated $352 million in funds allocated for the Secret Service to instead be used to build his ballroom, in spite of his guarantee that the ballroom would be built using private funds.

• The EPA is set to rollback Biden-era rules on methane pollution, which will significantly benefit one fossil fuel billionaire Trump supporter whose former lobbyist is now in charge of rewriting the rules.
  
• Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is canceling most of its Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants, adding up to approximately $68 million, which were awarded to universities, organizations, city and state health departments, and Planned Parenthood affiliates. This important program has helped to significantly reduce teen birth rates.

The following articles discuss the power of solidarity, collective resistance, and showing up for our community members in fighting back against authoritarianism; reflections on Juneteenth and fighting for American freedom; and the importance of looking beyond current resistance efforts to think about what we are building towards:

• Trump’s repression of dissent is backfiring
• Juneteenth and the Unfinished Fight for American Freedom
• What Do Authoritarians Fear Most? People Who Stick Up for Each Other.
• Resistance is only half the equation

During the month of June, there were a number of judicial and electoral wins from which to draw hope and inspiration:

• Federal judge blocks Trump policy of making arrests at immigration courts nationwide
• ‘End It Now’: Senate Passes War Powers Resolution Rebuking Trump’s Iran War
• Judge says Trump can’t use Social Security data for voter roll purges
• ‘Reeks of corruption’: protesters rally as Trump hosts UFC event on his birthday
• Seattle City Council passes data center moratorium
• Federal judge strikes down Trump's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas
• House approves war powers resolution to halt military action against Iran in a rebuke of Trump

Impact of H.R.1 on Essential Plan Health Coverage

Upcoming Changes to Medicaid Coverage

Need Help With Health Insurance?

Free Summer Meals

Starting Monday, June 29, 2026 through Friday, September 4, 2026 (no service on Friday, July 3), all children and teens ages 18 and under can receive free breakfast and lunch at sites across New York City—including schools, parks, libraries, and pools—in all five boroughs.

Program Highlights:

• No registration, ID, or documentation required

• Meals available Monday through Friday

• Breakfast: 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM

• Lunch: 11:00 AM – 1:15 PM

• Open to all children and teens ages 18 and under

For additional details and to find locations near you, please visit the NYC Public Schools Summer Meals website: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/food/summer-meals.

Financial Aid Updates

An update from the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation:

Below are June’s financial aid opportunities, events, and resources:

Financial Aid Program Reminders:

• NYS Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Incentive Program – Deadline August 15, 2026
• Excelsior Scholarship Program – Deadline August 31, 2026
• Enhanced Tuition Award (ETA) – Deadline August 31, 2026
• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) – Deadline June 30, 2027 (2026-27 Academic Year)
• Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) – Deadline June 30, 2027 (2026-27 Academic Year) 



View all opportunities

Mark Your Calendars

HESC has expert-led, upcoming virtual events to help students navigate college financial aid with confidence: 

• Understanding the NYS STEM Incentive Program
• July 7 – 6:00pm
• Pursuing a career in STEM? Find out how eligible students can receive tuition support for college. 
• Get Support with your DREAM Act & Alternate Path Applications 
• July 7 – 5:00-6:30pm 
• July 22 – 12:00-1:30pm
• Learn how to complete your DREAM Act and Alternate Path applications with expert guidance.  
• Tuition-Free College with Excelsior!
• July 15 – 6:00pm
• Learn how the Excelsior Scholarship and Enhanced Tuition Award can help cover your tuition. 

View all HESC events          

Have Questions? Call HESC!

Call HESC directly at 1-888-697-4372 for anything from financial aid assistance to resolving issues like a HESCPIN account reset; no appointment necessary.  

Important: To protect student privacy, HESC can only share information with a parent or guardian if they’re listed on the application or the student is present. 

Visit the HESC website for more information.

DOROT Summer Package Delivery

Summer Movies in Southpoint Park